A major foreign policy triumph:  Trump brings improved relationships with problem countries

Hillary talked about a "reset" but it took Trump to deliver one.  The various leaders appear to see Trump as a strong man where Obama was just a spineless nagger. They respect strength

Suddenly, leaders who have previously expressed nothing but contempt for the US are showcasing a desire to engage rather than intimidate or retract, and establish common ground with President Donald Trump.

The New York Times suggests some of the world’s most brutal autocrats could be welcoming the rise of Mr Trump as a chance to avoid being held accountable for their authoritarian tendencies and poor human rights records.

Others, it says, may wish to forge new alliances and a new geopolitical order, which could effectively restructure the world as we know it.

“Many appear to see a Trump presidency as an opportunity to engage with a like-minded leader who has stated nationalist aims,” the article states. “Others may hope for respite from criticism over their human rights records or authoritarian tendencies.”

Mr Trump already has a history of praising harsh dictators — both dead and alive.

In 2015, he said the Middle East would “100 per cent” have been better today if Libyan dictator Muammar al-Gaddafi and Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein were still in power.

Later that year, he said Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is “getting an A in terms of leadership”, comparing his leadership favourably with that of Barack Obama.

He even once retweeted a Mussolini quote.

Evidently some of the world’s more hostile global figures see this as a positive thing.

They seem more keen to collaborate with the US leader and get on his good side — even those who were contemptuous of him when he was considered unlikely to win.

Writing in The Guardian, historian Timothy Garton Ash said Mr Trump’s election win signifies he now joins “a score of other nationalist leaders around the globe”, saying “the nationalists are giving one another the Trumpian thumbs-up across the seas”.

So who are these non-western leaders taking an interest in Mr Trump?

VLADIMIR PUTIN (RUSSIA)

The seemingly-cozy relationship between Mr Trump and Vladimir Putin has been well-documented over the past two years.

Throughout the election, the pair frequently exchanged compliments and expressed visions of a mutually-agreeable future, bonding over their shared interests in their own countries and power.

Mr Putin first praised the US President publicly back in 2015, describing him as “talented” and the “absolute leader” in the GOP race for the White House.

Mr Trump has in turn described the Russian autocrat saying: “He’s running his country and at least he’s a leader, you know, unlike what we have in this country. I think our country does plenty of killing also.”

After the election, Mr Putin expressed an interest in a form of Russia-US alliance, saying he hopes him and Mr Trump can “work together to lift Russian — US relations out of the current crisis”.

On November 14, the pair had a phone call. According to a Kremlin press release, during the call they “expressed support for active joint efforts to normalise relations and pursue constructive co-operation on the broadest possible range of issues”.

According to the Times, Mr Putin may see this relationship as a way to further Russian aims and build a new geopolitical order.

KIM JONG-UN (NORTH KOREA)

North Korea’s regime has declared itself a sworn enemy of America, and its leader Kim Jong-un has made numerous nuclear threats over the years.

Despite threatening the isolated country and describing its leader as a “maniac”, Mr Trump has expressed an interest in meeting Mr Kim.

He even once praised the swift way the dictator took power after his father’s death, saying he deserves “credit” for that.

“You’ve got to give him credit. How many young guys — he was like 26 or 25 when his father died — take over these tough generals, and all of a sudden ... he goes in, he takes over, and he’s the boss,” Mr Trump said. “It’s incredible. He wiped out the uncle, he wiped out this one, that one. I mean this guy doesn’t play games. And we can’t play games with him.”

Now, Mr Kim is apparently experiencing a change of heart towards his country’s relations with the US. According to The Yong Ho, the most senior North Korean diplomat to defect in almost two decades, Mr Kim wishes to have a civil conversation with the US President and potentially work together.

That said that after his initial surprise that Mr Trump won, Mr Kim now sees it as “a good opportunity for him to open a kind of compromise with the new American administration”.

Not even Chinese President Xi Jinping or Russian President Putin have met with Mr Kim, and the US does not officially recognise North Korea as a state.

Mr Trump has been urged to make North Korean human rights a key part of his policy going forward, but his plan here remains unknown.

RODRIGO DUTERTE (PHILIPPINES)

Rodrigo Duterte — also known as The Punisher — cast the future of traditionally strong US-Philippines relations into doubt when he came to power.

He was openly critical of the Obama administration, described the former US leader as “a son of a wh*re” and publicly allied himself with China and Russia on the South China Sea.

He publicly announced his “separation” from the US last year, saying a three-way alliance with China and Russia is “the only way”.

But since Mr Trump came to power, Mr Duterte seems to have taken a positive step back towards the US.

He acknowledged he called Mr Trump following his election win, and sang him glowing praises.  “I said, ‘Mr. President, this is President Duterte. May I be privileged to congratulate you?’”

At the birthday party of Philippine National Police chief Ronald deal Rosa, Mr Duterte said of Mr Trump: “He is a billionaire. His wife is very beautiful. I envy him. “If you’re a billionaire, you speak like that, you became a president, and you have a beautiful wife, then you’re like in heaven already. That’s his edge over me.”

He’s praised Mr Trump’s tough stance, saying: “Look at his inaugural speech. He will stop drugs. We’re no different,” he said, implying the US had its own problem with illegal drugs. “He’s also tough. He will also kill you.”

RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN (TURKEY)

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is the controversial leader of Turkey. He arrested and fired more than 100,000 opponents to his leadership and jailed 40,000 more following a military coup midway through last year. He’s also jailed more journalists than any other leader over the past year.

When Mr Trump first proposed his Muslim ban during his presidential campaign, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan responded with outrage.

He demanded Mr Trump’s name be removed from Trump Towers Istanbul, blasting the then-candidate for having “no tolerance for Muslims in America”.

“They put that brand on his building and it must be swiftly taken down,” he said, according to the website of Turkey’s state broadcaster.

But Mr Erdogan, once a fierce critic of the Republican billionaire, appears to have changed his tune since November.

Earlier this month, he said he believes Turkey’s dialogue with the United States will gain pace under Mr Trump’s presidency and they will reach a consensus on regional issues. “I believe we will accelerate dialogue when Mr Trump takes office. I believe we will reach a consensus with Mr Trump, particularly on regional issues, and make rapid headway,” he told Turkish ambassadors gathered in Ankara.

While he did describe Mr Trump’s recent travel ban confirmation as “disturbing”, he just said Turkish authorities are “watching” his statements.

Oh, and the name of Trump Towers in Istanbul remains unchanged.

NURSULTAN A NAZARBAYEV (KAZAKHSTAN)

The Kazakhstan leader’s human rights record has been described as abysmal.

According to Human Rights Watch, the central Asian country “heavily restricts freedom of assembly, speech, and religion, and torture remains a serious problem”.

The human rights organisation describes Mr Nazarbayev’s rule as “heavy-handed”, criticising highly-restricted media freedoms, the pressing issue of torture and a poor record on civil and workers’ rights.

Despite this, Mr Nazarbayev claimed Mr Trump called him in December to say he’d accomplished a “miracle” over his 25 years of governance. “U.S. president-elect brought congratulations to the Head of State on the 25th anniversary of Kazakhstan’s Independence,” the Kazakh presidential press office’s readout said.

“D. Trump stressed that under the leadership of Nursultan Nazarbayev our country over the years of Independence had achieved fantastic success that can be called a ‘miracle.’”

The Trump administration did not acknowledge the term “miracle”, simply saying the pair had “addressed the importance of strengthening regional partnerships”.

The Times suggested Mr Trump’s presidency could provide a respite from criticism for governments like Mr Nazarbayev’s.

But that also depends on how long the cosiness lasts, and whether these warm relationships are sustainable or not is yet to be seen.

SOURCE

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Selectivity is normal



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Trump Puts Sanctuary Cities on Notice

As we’ve noted already this week, President Donald Trump has taken the issue of immigration head on. First it was the border wall. Then came Trump’s executive order on interior enforcement, which includes pulling funding from so-called sanctuary cities. According to The Washington Times, the order “calls on Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly and the new attorney general to cut off all federal funding they control under existing federal laws.” Anything further will require congressional action. Trump also ordered DHS to create a “name and shame” list of sanctuary cities, including publicizing the names of aliens who’ve been released and the crimes they’ve committed.

“Cities” is an understatement. California, Colorado, Connecticut and New Mexico do not cooperate with federal immigration authorities, as is the case with cities and counties in 25 other states and DC. Yes, that’s right, the seat of the federal government is a “sanctuary city.” Leftists in these jurisdictions like to frame their actions as simply not cooperating — as in police not checking immigration status when making arrests or traffic stops. But it’s far more insidious. These cities often actively resist when federal authorities come looking for specific illegal aliens.

The horrific results are clear, as illustrated by the widely reported murder of Kate Steinle by a five-time-deported illegal alien felon two years ago in San Francisco. But that’s just one case. The Obama administration released thousands upon thousands of illegal alien criminals. Over a two-year period, more than 66,000 illegal alien criminals were set free — and there were 166,000 convictions among them, including 11,000 rapes and 395 homicides. Thousands of them were rearrested after committing further crimes.

Yet leftists insist they’re the compassionate ones.

It’s important to note that Trump isn’t making law here. Everything he’s called for is already the law — the wall, deportation, all of it. Enforce the law and you solve most of the problem. He’s off to a good start.

SOURCE

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For more blog postings from me, see  TONGUE-TIED, EDUCATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL, GREENIE WATCH,  POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, AUSTRALIAN POLITICS, and Paralipomena (Occasionally updated),  a Coral reef compendium and an IQ compendium. (Both updated as news items come in).  GUN WATCH is now mainly put together by Dean Weingarten. I also put up occasional updates on my Personal blog and each day I gather together my most substantial current writings on THE PSYCHOLOGIST.

Email me  here (Hotmail address). My Home Pages are here (Academic) or  here (Pictorial) or  here  (Personal)

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Leftist aggression escalating

An unhinged liberal movement is growing more violent, and now pro-life lawmakers are being placed under police protection after terrorist threats:

State Rep. Tony Tinderholt, R-Arlington, has been placed under the protection of the Texas Department of Public Safety after receiving death threats following his filing of a bill to criminalize abortion in Texas.

“Representative Tinderholt and his family have received multiple death threats leading to his family being placed under DPS protection on multiple occasions,” Micah Cavanaugh, Tinderholt’s chief of staff, said in a statement Monday. “Specifics to the threats cannot be discussed due to an ongoing investigation, and we do not intend to speak on behalf of law enforcement.”

Tinderholt’s bill, the Abolition of Abortion Act, would criminalize abortion in Texas to the extent that both abortion providers and women who receive an abortion could be charged with murder.

If there ever were a case to demonstrate how pro-abortion liberals value their own personal “choice” over another person’s life, it’s this one.

SOURCE

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Trump Refugee Order Balances Security and Compassion

James Carafano

Read any commentary on the just signed executive order on visa and refugee vetting from several countries in the Middle East and odds are the assessment will tell you more about the writer’s politics than be an analysis of the order.

I confess: I have a perspective as well. Mine comes from working on the presidential team on both foreign policy and homeland security from after the Republican convention up to the inauguration. I can’t share the detailed workings of the team. But what I can share, having worked on the issues, is what I believe guided the work.

And it all started with making America safe.

Not campaign promises, anger at any religion, or prejudice of any kind impacted our thinking on the transition team. What we were worried about were future threats.

As the space for the Islamic State, or ISIS, gets squeezed in the Middle East, the remains of the tens of thousands of foreign fighters will have to flow somewhere. Every nation, not just the U.S., believes they are most likely to flow to the countries cited in the order. That fact, and only that fact, is why those countries are included on the list. Indeed, when it comes to visa vetting, that’s why the European Union has restrictions that are comparable to the United States.

The reason why we all worry is because, from those countries, foreign fighters could well try to flow to the West, principally by using visas or posing as refugees. When they get to the West, they could carry out terrorist acts. We know that because they already have—specifically in Western Europe.

They haven’t come to the U.S.—yet. Right now, our primary threat is Islamist-related terror plots that are organized by terrorists who are already here.

What this administration is doing is making sure we are ready for the next wave of terrorism as well—the outflow of terrorists from the countries of conflict where the foreign fighters are likely to go first.

There are already cries that the precautions are unfair—creating hardships. Fair enough, but terrorists attacks (like those at the Bataclan in France by the followers of ISIS) create unbearable hardships as well—and the government has the responsibility to find the right balance between security and compassion for its citizens as well as consider how U.S. actions impact others around the world.

One area where the order tries to get that balance right is to ensure future refugee processing prioritizes addressing the plight of religious minorities. That is particularly crucial in the Middle East where the remnants of the region’s Christian communities are under severe threat.

Worldwide persecutions against Christian minorities have been rising for four straight years. It’s particularly problematic in the Middle East. The administration is making an extra effort to address that crisis.

While critics will continue to demonize the administration’s policies because they don’t fit their politics, Americans who crave a foreign policy that prioritizes American interests, puts a compassionate face on statecraft that reflects our values, and acts responsibly will find much to respect in the order.

SOURCE

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Fake news as media wilfully lie about Social Security gun ban

The U.S. House of Representatives Thursday repealed a discriminatory Social Security rule denounced by mental health experts and the anti-gun American Civil Liberties Union.

If you didn’t know that, it’s because liberal media outlets reported it with headlines like this:

BREAKING: US House of Representatives has voted to roll back background checks for gun ownership

The reaction was instantaneous, and intentional. Social media was flooded with rabid leftists hurling death threats at Republican lawmakers — accusing them of abolishing background checks at gun shows.

It was a complete lie.

There was no change whatsoever to background check requirements.

The rule in question automatically listed Social Security and Veterans Administration beneficiaries as banned gun owners if they had named someone else to handle their finances.

Under this Obama administration proposal, bureaucrats within the SSA and VA would automatically deem someone as “mentally incompetent” if they had a fiduciary handling their benefits and they would be entered into the National Instant Check System as prohibited persons.

According to Federal law, those deemed “mentally incompetent” are prohibited from purchasing, owning or possessing firearms.

The rule would strip 4.2 million Americans of their right to keep and bears arms, just among those on the Social Security list.

Millions of Americans would be denied their constitutional rights, without a medical examination or due process of law.

It brought the immediate denunciation of mental health experts, who are among the most anti-gun of any profession. They slammed the Obama administration for falsely concluding that problems performing math or balancing a checkbook made one “mentally incompetent” or a threat to others.

It also brought challenges from the ACLU, another reliably anti-gun group.

“All individuals have the right to be judged on the basis of their individual capabilities, not the characteristics and capabilities that are sometimes attributed (often mistakenly) to any group or class to which they belong. A disability should not constitute grounds for the automatic per se denial of any right or privilege, including gun ownership,” the ACLU wrote in an announcement endorsing the congressional bill.

None of that mattered to the mainstream media, who used the vote as another opportunity to spread Fake News intended to escalate threats against the Trump administration and Republican lawmakers.

SOURCE

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Be Careful What You Wish For (especially if it is Hitler)

By Scott Adams (Dilbert author)

As a trained persuader, I’m seeing a dangerous situation forming that I assume is invisible to most of you. The setup is that during the presidential campaign Trump’s critics accused him of being Hitler(ish) and they were sure other citizens would see it too, thus preventing this alleged monster from taking office.

They were wrong. The alleged monster took office.

Now you have literally millions of citizens in the United States who were either right about Trump being the next Hitler, and we will see that behavior emerge from him soon, or they are complete morons. That’s a trigger for cognitive dissonance. The science says these frightened folks will start interpreting all they see as Hitler behavior no matter how ridiculous it might seem to the objective observer. And sure enough, we are seeing that.

To be fair, Trump made it easy this week with his temporary immigration ban. If you assume Trump is Hitler, that fits with your hypothesis. But of course it also fits the hypothesis that he’s just doing his job. We’re all seeing what we expect to see.

But lately I get the feeling that Trump’s critics have evolved from expecting Trump to be Hitler to preferring it. Obviously they don’t prefer it in a conscious way. But the alternative to Trump becoming Hitler is that they have to live out the rest of their lives as confirmed morons. No one wants to be a confirmed moron. And certainly not after announcing their Trump opinions in public and demonstrating in the streets. It would be a total embarrassment for the anti-Trumpers to learn that Trump is just trying to do a good job for America. It’s a threat to their egos. A big one.

And this gets me to my point. When millions of Americans want the same thing, and they want it badly, the odds of it happening go way up. You can call it the power of positive thinking. It is also the principle behind affirmations. When humans focus on a desired future, events start to conspire to make it happen.

I’m not talking about any new-age magic. I’m talking about ordinary people doing ordinary things to turn Trump into an actual Hitler. For example, if protesters start getting violent, you could expect forceful reactions eventually. And that makes Trump look more like Hitler. I can think of dozens of ways the protesters could cause the thing they are trying to prevent. In other words, they can wish it into reality even though it is the very thing they are protesting.

In the 3rd dimension of persuasion, the protesters need to be proven right, and they will do whatever it takes to make that happen. So you might see the protesters inadvertently create the police state they fear.

If you are looking for the tells that this dangerous situation is developing, notice how excited/happy the Trump critics seem to be – while angry at the same time – that Trump’s immigration ban fits their belief system. If you see people who are simply afraid of Trump, they are probably harmless. But the people who are excited about any Hitler-analogy-behavior by Trump might be leading the country to a police state without knowing it.

So watch for that.

SOURCE

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Time tells



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For more blog postings from me, see  TONGUE-TIED, EDUCATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL, GREENIE WATCH,  POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, AUSTRALIAN POLITICS, and Paralipomena (Occasionally updated),  a Coral reef compendium and an IQ compendium. (Both updated as news items come in).  GUN WATCH is now mainly put together by Dean Weingarten. I also put up occasional updates on my Personal blog and each day I gather together my most substantial current writings on THE PSYCHOLOGIST.

Email me  here (Hotmail address). My Home Pages are here (Academic) or  here (Pictorial) or  here  (Personal)

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British politician defends Trump in the European parliament

Farage and Trump get on well and have similar views. So it is amusing to hear Trump heavily promoted and defended in a British private school accent. And Farage is as blunt as Trump.  At one point in his speech, he refers to the chairman of the European parliament as "Mussolini". For the EU politicians, it must have felt like having Trump himself in their midst and roaring at them.  Europeans, particularly the French, have long been perturbed by "les anglo-saxons" and their tendency to support one-another -- so this will entrench paranoia among EU denizens even further

British politician Nigel Farage, who represents South East England in the European Parliament, dropped a truth bomb on the EU Commission on Wednesday.

While many unelected European bureaucrats have spent the last week criticizing President Donald Trump’s immigration ban, the fact of the matter is they’ve done absolutely nothing to prevent radical Islamic terrorism in Europe.

Watch Farage call out the hypocrites below:



SOURCE

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The Hard Left Doesn't Fear the Law. They've Decided They Are the Law.

Berkeley 2017: `We Will Control the Streets. This Is War.'

We didn't expect the hard Left to learn anything useful from the 2016 election. Instead, they have chosen to double down:

The Hard Left doesn't fear the law. They've decided they are the law.

Let's be clear: a significant number of Americans, both on and off America's college campuses, do not believe in other people's right to give speeches with perspectives and ideas they oppose. The boss noticed how frequently the term "un-American" is thrown around these days in the debates about immigration law. Physically attacking people because they have different beliefs is about as un-American as it gets.

Kiara Robles braved the crowd wearing a red "Make Bitcoin Great Again" hat in the style of President Trump's red hats, which made her and our crew a target. The video in the player above shows the graphic exchange between a protester and Robles, who was pepper sprayed. "I'm looking to make a statement by just being here and I think the protesters are doing the same. Props to the ones who are doing it non-violently, but I think that's a very rare thing indeed."

She later told ABC7 News she was alright.

She was not the only person attacked at the protest Wednesday.

"I hope I don't have a broken nose over this," said Joe Scherer, an observer. "The first amendment is fundamental to our Constitution."

By 9 p.m. protesters had taken to the streets of Berkeley carrying protest signs. Some marched while others threw rocks at buildings. A Chase location and a Wells Fargo location were vandalized. Broken glass could be seen flying into the streets from Sky7.

Officials held a news conference while the protests were happening saying it wasn't a proud moment for the city.

The violence and vandalism spread far beyond the school's campus.

U.C. Berkeley police and university officials issued warnings to the students not to exit their dorms. A shelter-in-place was ordered as well.

When you are willing to pepper-spray right in front of the television cameras, you're not just attacking that person; you're trying to intimidate everyone else who sees that image, too. It's a signal to everyone else - if the angry hard-Left mob thinks you're against them, they won't wait to read the fine print on your red cap. They will inflict pain on you and not even bother to ask questions later.

Meanwhile, across the bay in San Francisco:

The San Francisco police department is suspending ties with the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force. The announcement comes amid growing concerns of spying on Muslim Americans by the new Trump Administration.

While you're at it, why not paint a bull's-eye on the TransAmerica building?

SOURCE

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A very Leftist contrast



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Blue-collar Democrats are delighted they chose Trump

President Trump’s shock-and-awe assault on Washington has rattled Republican leaders, foreign policy heavyweights warn that he risks alienating US allies and the tycoons of Silicon Valley have condemned his restrictions on immigration.

However, his first fortnight in the White House has pleased one important group: the voters who put him there.

“He’s been outstanding,” said Fred Wiseman, 51, a factory worker in Macomb County, Michigan, a working-class sprawl of modest suburban homes, strip malls and car assembly plants that, it can be argued, pushed Mr Trump to the presidency.

“I feel safer,” Sally Armstrong, 37, a waitress, said. “Give him this,” Ron Syme, 52, an architect, said: “He’s done what he promised.”

SOURCE

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The Truth About the 'Botched' Yemen Raid<>/b>

There are accusations being fomented by the Leftmedia that claim President Donald Trump’s first counterterrorism order resulted in a disastrous yet preventable episode in Yemen — the consequence, we’re now being told, of sheer negligence. Tragically, the operation took the life of SEAL Team Six’s Chief Petty Officer William “Ryan” Owens and other innocent bystanders. But the situation all came to a head when Reuters reported that “U.S. military officials [said] Trump approved his first covert counterterrorism operation without sufficient intelligence, ground support or adequate backup preparations.” This appears to be a blatant attempt to smear Trump’s reputation and further portray him as unsuited for the role of commander in chief.

First, The New York Times says, “Barack Obama’s national security aides had reviewed the plans for a risky attack on a small, heavily guarded brick home of a senior Qaeda collaborator in a mountainous village in a remote part of central Yemen. But Mr. Obama did not act because the Pentagon wanted to launch the attack on a moonless night and the next one would come after his term had ended.” In other words, the attack was planned before Trump even entered the Oval Office. So it wasn’t some hastily concocted operation.

Second, veteran David French. who has actual experience in combat, warns against buying the Leftmedia’s narrative. He writes, “Absent truly extraordinary circumstances not outlined in the report, these officials seem to be relying on reporters' ignorance and willingness to believe anything about Trump … to deflect criticism of a dangerous operation that turned out to be even more dangerous than anticipated. That happens in war. It happened all the time when I was in Iraq.”

“People who haven’t been exposed to war with jihadists tend to think of firefights as precise affairs,” French continues. “Instead, they’re extraordinarily destructive, and the battle is waged against an enemy who intentionally and flagrantly violates the laws of war.” In conclusion: “None of this sounds unusual. … [I]t’s an impressive feat of arms to assault an alert enemy in a prepared defensive position, defeat that enemy, and leave with valuable intelligence. So, no, don’t believe claims that Trump botched the raid in Yemen. He didn’t plan the operation, and we don’t want him planning operations. We want presidents to rely on professionals. But those same professionals will tell you that war is terrible by its very nature, and no president can guarantee victory without cost.”

By the way, the media outlets peddling these dubious reports are the same outlets that did everything they could to avoid covering Benghazi. Which truly was a preventable disaster.

SOURCE

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DHS Experiences the Trump Effect

With all the Democrats' and Leftmedia’s hysterics over Donald Trump’s executive orders on immigration, travel restrictions and reforming of visa vetting, combined with an over-the-top freakout of many Hollywood elites calling for resistance to Trump, one can hardly be faulted for wondering if there are any out there who are happy with Trump beyond those “deplorables” who voted for him, sizable though they may be.

Well, there is at least one government agency where members are reporting quite a boost in morale after Trump’s recent executive orders — the Department of Homeland Security. Over the last eight years, Border Patrol agents have felt like they were fighting a losing battle. Under Barack Obama’s “catch and release” directive, up to 80% of those illegals caught trying to enter were let go. Agents said that they felt handcuffed, unable to do their jobs. But now, says Shawn Moran, vice president of the National Border Patrol Council, “When Trump was elected, there was an increase in optimism among the agents, but nothing like what we’ve seen in the past few days.”

The DHS, once considered one of the worst places to work within the federal government according to staff surveys, has seen a sizable shift in morale. One Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent, after hearing new DHS Secretary John Kelly’s public remarks to reporters on enforcing laws to protect Americans, said that it “re-energized a lot of us because for so long we’ve been vilified for doing our jobs, and here was someone finally standing up for us.”

As Trump said when he spoke last week at DHS headquarters, “Agents haven’t been allowed to do their jobs. That’s going to change.” And indeed, it looks like those at DHS are happy he’s been true to his word

SOURCE

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Now We Know: Those 'Spontaneous' Anti-Trump Airport Protests Weren't Spontaneous At All

There was always something fishy about the outbreak of "spontaneous" protests at airports around the country in the immediate wake of President Trump's executive order pausing visas and refugees from terror-prone countries.

But these protests weren't spontaneous at all. They were, in fact, the result of months of careful planning by hard-core left-wing activist groups.

Suebsaeng notes that "professional organizers had been waiting and planning for this type of mass, direct action — ready-made to go viral on social media — even since, well Nov. 9." These professional organizers, he says have been "anticipating and mapping out their battle plans for Trump's orders on deportations, bans, and detention."

Since Trump had made clear that he planned — on day one, in fact — to issue a temporary ban on visas and refugees from terror prone countries, all these groups had to do was wait until he made good on that pledge to spring into action.

Making the protests appear spontaneous gave them a sense of urgency and legitimacy they otherwise wouldn't have had.

More HERE

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For more blog postings from me, see  TONGUE-TIED, EDUCATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL, GREENIE WATCH,  POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, AUSTRALIAN POLITICS, and Paralipomena (Occasionally updated),  a Coral reef compendium and an IQ compendium. (Both updated as news items come in).  GUN WATCH is now mainly put together by Dean Weingarten. I also put up occasional updates on my Personal blog and each day I gather together my most substantial current writings on THE PSYCHOLOGIST.

Email me  here (Hotmail address). My Home Pages are here (Academic) or  here (Pictorial) or  here  (Personal)

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Senate panel suspends a rule to OK Trump Cabinet picks

Once again, Democrats are undone by their living in an eternal present, with no thought of yesterday or tomorrow.  What the GOP did here was follow a precedent set by Harry Reid, when he showed that you could bypass important checks and balances through a simple rewriting of the Senate rules.

Reid had no respect for precedent and now the GOP have followed suit.  Reid quite amazingly abolished the filibuster for all but approval of SCOTUS judges.  That insouciance has now come back hard to bite the Donks on the butt.  They set a dangerous precedent for temporary gain and now are virtually disarmed in resisting Trump appointees

This is of course not the end of Senate scrutiny for the appointees but it clears away a roadblock.  And final approval should now follow easily


Republicans muscled through committee approval of President Donald Trump’s nominees for Treasury and Health on Wednesday, suspending a key Senate rule in the latest escalation of partisan tensions in Congress.

Democrats boycotted a Finance Committee meeting and Republicans responded by temporarily scuttling a rule requiring at least one Democrat to be present for votes. The committee then approved Representative Tom Price to become Health secretary and financier Steve Mnuchin to be Treasury secretary.

SOURCE

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Hoyer: U.S. Should Not Give Priority to Refugee Claims of Persecuted Christians

Hoyer is Jewish.  I'm guessing that he would make an  exception for endangered Jews.  When Britain controlled Palestine, they tried to send back Jewish refugees.  Does Hoyer agree with that?

House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said Tuesday that the United States should not give priority to the refugee claims of persecuted religious minorities.

Doing so is one element of the execuitive order that President Donald Trump issued Friday to protect the United States from entry by foreign terrorists.

At his weekly Capitol Hill press briefing, CNSNews.com asked Hoyer: “President Trump’s order on protecting the U.S. from foreign terrorists calls for prioritizing the refugee claims of persecuted religious minorities. Do you agree that the U.S. should prioritize refugee admissions for persecuted religious minorities?”

“No,” Hoyer said. “I think the criteria should not be religion.”

SOURCE

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Levin on Trump’s Refugee Executive Order: Nobody Has a Right to Come Into America – None

On his nationally syndicated radio talk show Monday, host Mark Levin ripped the Left for their onslaught against Donald Trump’s executive order on refugees saying, “Nobody has a right, of any kind, to come into America – none.”

“Nobody has a right, of any kind, to come into America – none,” said Mark Levin. “Now I know the crackpot ultra-Libertarians and the crackpot ultra-Leftists seem to think that people can come willy-nilly, but they’re wrong. That’s never been American history, and no nation can survive that. None. That’s why no nation does it. None.”

Below is a transcript of Levin’s comments from his show:

“Now, let’s start from the beginning so I can unravel all of this and then ram it down their throats.

“What’s the purpose of government? Its primary purpose is to secure America and to protect the life, liberty and property of the American people. I said, the American people.

“What’s the purpose of immigration? It is to improve America, to improve America.

“No society is immortal. None. No nation is immortal. None.

“And yet, there are people who keep preaching the transformation of America. They’ve been eviscerating our Constitution. They are eviscerating our borders, and they’re doing the latter through immigration. They lecture us about the Constitution.

“Foreign citizens who’ve never set foot in America don’t have constitutional rights. Seven billion people who aren’t Americans don’t fall within the jurisdiction of our Constitution or our statutes.

“Nobody has a right, of any kind, to come into America – none.

“Now I know the crackpot ultra-Libertarians and the crackpot ultra-Leftists seem to think that people can come willy-nilly, but they’re wrong. That’s never been American history, and no nation can survive that. None. That’s why no nation does it. None.

“All you’ve heard today is about the poor, would-be immigrant – not the actual immigrant – the poor, would-be immigrant from seven countries, six would be for a four-month temporary ban, not permitted to come into the country. In Syria it would be indefinite, until the situation settles down.

“And you would have thought Donald Trump was Franklin Delano Roosevelt. You would have thought Trump was rounding up Muslim-Americans and Americans of Muslim decent, ordering his military to issue an order like 9066, rounding up Muslim-Americans and bringing them to internment camps in the center of the country.

“Did he do that? No.

“No, he didn’t do that.

“He hasn’t violated anybody’s rights. He hasn’t violated anybody’s due process. There aren’t any rights. There isn’t any due process. The people aren’t even here yet. The people aren’t even here yet.

“And they say this is un-American. What’s un-American. There’s nothing un-American about this.

“I don’t know what the courts will do now, but in the past the courts have upheld every single syllable of what Donald Trump did with his executive order.

“Nobody has a right to come into this country. Nobody has the right to demand to come into this country. I don’t give a d--- what their faith is, or their race, or their ethnicity.

“This country belongs to the American citizen. The citizen of America comes first, not the citizen of Yemen, or Libya, or the Sudan, or Iran, or all the rest of it.

“The problem we have, ladies and gentleman, is that we have people who are trying to blow up our cities and cut the throats of your children, and we can’t simply identify them because they won’t self-identity. They don’t wear scarlet letters.

“They’re terrorists. And terrorists, unlike a standing military, secrete themselves among the people. They hide among the people in order to slaughter the people. So when you have people coming into this country from parts of the world where we cannot be sure who they are because there’s no effective government, or there’s a hostile government, or there’s no effective database, what’s a president of the United States supposed to do? ‘Hey, come on in. We’ll ask you 12 questions.’ And that will be that.

“Trump is trying to prevent carnage in the United States of American citizens on his watch, and he’s being brutalized for it. He’s being attacked for it. “I’ve never seen anything so disgusting.”

SOURCE

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The Left are full of fake horror over an affectionate pat on the bottom

Ivanka's husband still finds her attractive



It is good to see such magnetism between them after years of marriage and three children

Very selective horror.  By contrast, ripping a baby out of its mother's womb and killing it is no trouble at all to the Left.

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Ivanka still Daddy's girl too

How idiotic are the feminists who say Trump is a misogynist



Trump took her with him when he made an unannounced trip to honor the returning remains of a U.S. Navy SEAL killed during a weekend raid on an al-Qaida base in Yemen

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Columbia invited Iranian President Ahmadinejad to speak. He spoke. Milo Yiannopoulos got the reception below at UC Berkeley.  The Nazi-Left prevented him from speaking



The demonstrating Left and their supporters are the true heirs of Nazism in America today



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A Trump supporter was giving her statement to ABC7 News when someone pepper sprayed her on camera

BERKELEY, Calif. (KGO) -- Violent protests moved through downtown Berkeley Wednesday night after the cancellation of a speaking engagement scheduled for controversial Breitbart editor Milo Yiannopoulos.

There were plenty of sub-plots at the protest against Yiannopulos, but also against people who were protecting the suppression of free speech. The conflict arrived in the form of polytechnics, smoke, strife, and anger--not only about the speaker and what he might say, but also about his right to say it, even in the birthplace of the free speech movement.

"Well I carried my sign, Free speech is protected even for Milo," said Mike Sherman, a protester.

The protests began at U.C. Berkeley in front of the Martin Luther King Student Union around 5 p.m. and left only after U.C. Berkeley police threatened to arrest anyone who remained.

As to what happened in between, there may have been 400 active protesters and some 300 people looking on. Some of them came hoping to hear the speech.

Kiara Robles braved the crowd wearing a red "Make Bitcoin Great Again" hat in the style of President Trump's red hats, which made her and our crew a target. The video in the player above shows the graphic exchange between a protester and Robles, who was pepper sprayed. "I'm looking to make a statement by just being here and I think the protesters are doing the same. Props to the ones who are doing it non-violently, but I think that's a very rare thing indeed."

She later told ABC7 News she was alright.

She was not the only person attacked at the protest Wednesday. "I hope I don't have a broken nose over this," said Joe Scherer, an observer. "The first amendment is fundamental to our Constitution."

By 9 p.m. protesters had taken to the streets of Berkeley carrying protest signs. Some marched while others threw rocks at buildings. A Chase location and a Wells Fargo location were vandalized. Broken glass could be seen flying into the streets from Sky7.

The violence and vandalism spread far beyond the school's campus.

U.C. Berkeley police and university officials issued warnings to the students not to exit their dorms. A shelter-in-place was ordered as well.

In a free country with free speech in iconic Berkeley, no matter what a person's politics we were all witness to violence

SOURCE

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For more blog postings from me, see  TONGUE-TIED, EDUCATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL, GREENIE WATCH,  POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, AUSTRALIAN POLITICS, and Paralipomena (Occasionally updated),  a Coral reef compendium and an IQ compendium. (Both updated as news items come in).  GUN WATCH is now mainly put together by Dean Weingarten. I also put up occasional updates on my Personal blog and each day I gather together my most substantial current writings on THE PSYCHOLOGIST.

Email me  here (Hotmail address). My Home Pages are here (Academic) or  here (Pictorial) or  here  (Personal)

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Message to the Trump-haters

by Paul Genova

I'm noticing that a lot of people aren't graciously accepting the fact that their candidate lost. In fact you seem to be posting even more hateful things about those who voted for Trump. Some are apparently "triggered" because they are posting how "sick" you feel about the results. How did this happen you ask? Well, here is how it happened!

You created "us" when you attacked our freedom of speech.
You created "us" when you attacked our right to bear arms.
You created "us" when you attacked our Christian beliefs.
You created "us" when you constantly referred to us as racists.
You created "us" when you constantly called us xenophobic.
You created "us" when you told us to get on board or get out of the way.
You created "us" when you attacked our flag.
You created "us" when you took God out of our schools.
You created "us" when you confused women's rights with feminism.
You created "us" when you began to emasculate men.
You created "us" when you decided to make our children soft.
You created "us" when you decided to vote for progressive ideals.
You created "us" when you attacked our way of life.
You created "us" when you decided to let our government get out of control.

You created "us" the silent majority.

You created "us" when you began murdering innocent law enforcement officers.
You created "us" when you lied and said we could keep our insurance plans and our doctors.
You created "us" when you allowed our jobs to continue to leave our country.
You created "us" when you took a knee, or stayed seated or didn't remove your hat during our National Anthem.
You created "us" when you forced us to buy health care and then financially penalized us for not participating.

And we became fed up and we pushed back and spoke up.
And we did it with ballots, not bullets.
    With ballots, not riots.
    With ballots, not looting.
    With ballots, not blocking traffic.
    With ballots, not fires, except the one you started inside of "us".
    "YOU" created "US".
    It really is just that simple

Via email

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Trump travel ban: Prince Charles says we are in danger of forgetting the lessons of the past

He seems to have forgotten the lessons of the present:  worldwide Jihad

The vast worldwide shrieks by Leftists and comfortable elites drown out a lot of ordinary people who think it is about time that Muslims got some of their own back.  There is majority support for Trump's order

Prince Charles has warned the "horrific lessons" of the Holocaust and World War II "seem to be in increasing danger of being forgotten" in what is being interpreted as a veiled reference to the rise of nationalism, populism and US President Donald Trump.

The heir to the throne, who was speaking at a fundraising dinner for the World Jewish Relief charity in London on Monday night, also urged people of faith to "extend a helping hand" "across the boundaries" of their own religions to wherever aid is needed.

In his speech, the Prince of Wales paid tribute to the work of the charity as well as a number of Jewish refugees and survivors of the Holocaust he had met throughout his life, including champion weightlifter Ben Helfgott.

"To meet Ben, and others who, like him, have endured indescribable persecution, is to be reminded of the danger of forgetting the lessons of the past," he said.

"The work of World Jewish Relief enables us to rally together, to do what we can to support people practically, emotionally and spiritually – particularly at a time when the horrific lessons of the last War seem to be in increasing danger of being forgotten."

SOURCE

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The Left have no principles and no shame



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Donald Trump way ahead of his critics

By Rita Panahi, an Iranian-born Australian

IF THE Left wants to see Donald Trump elected to a second term, it should continue its current antics. Every Trump move, no matter how benign or insignificant, has been met with a reaction ranging from agitation to full-blown hysteria.

There’ll be plenty more protests to come as the Trump administration implements its “America-first” policies. The so-called “Muslim ban”, which is, in fact, nothing of the sort, has elicited the strongest response and much of it is based on misinformation, half-truths and imagined injustices.

For the record, I don’t support blanket bans on travellers from particular countries, or religions, but only a naive fool would deny that Trump’s policy is popular among voters — and not just in the US. Trump is doing precisely what he promised during the marathon presidential election campaign.

He is executing policies, including limiting migration from terror hot spots, until improved vetting practises can be established.

Did Trump’s political opponents think he was bluffing or expect him to abandon the populist policies that got him elected?

According to the independent Quinnipiac University Poll released earlier this month, 48 per cent of Americans support “suspending immigration from terror prone regions, even if it means turning away refugees”, while 42 per cent are opposed.

Of the Republican voters polled, 72 per cent supported the bans with only 17 per cent opposed.

The poll also showed that 53 per cent backed “requiring immigrants from Muslim countries to register with the federal government”, with 41 per cent against the idea.

A poll released on Tuesday by Rasmussen Reports, considered a conservative polling company, showed even greater support for the measures. Of likely US voters, 57 per cent were in favour of the bans on refugees until the federal government can better screen potential terrorists, with 33 per cent opposed to Trump’s policy.

The bans were hugely popular with Republican voters (82 per cent) while 59 per cent of voters not affiliated with either party also backed the move.

It’s worth noting that the seven countries affected by the 90-day travel ban — Iran, Libya, Sudan, Somalia, Iraq, Yemen and Syria — not only support terror but most have chaotic governments unwilling or simply incapable of providing pertinent information about citizens travelling to the US.

Trump’s immigration crackdown also included a ban on refugees from the seven banned countries for 120 days and the suspension of the Syrian refugee admissions program indefinitely.

Those countries were selected not because they are Muslim-majority but because they were identified by the Obama administration as “countries of concern”. The asinine argument that such measures will lead to the “radicalisation of more Muslims” are best ignored; there has never been an anti-terror policy that has not been derided as “playing into the hands of terrorists”.

I wonder if the Left realises how Islamophobic it is to suggest that otherwise peaceful Muslims will become jihadis if they are banned from entering the US for a few months. The same people who tell us terror has no religion are warning that Muslims will react with violence to the bans.

Why do so many progressives use the bigotry of low expectation when speaking about the Muslim world? Do Israelis, banned from multiple Muslim-majority countries, turn to terror? Indeed there are many Muslim nations that ban anyone who has been to Israel from entering their country, which is why the Israelis no longer stamp the passports of visitors.

Despite the reports of worldwide chaos, there were relatively few passengers, a few hundred, immediately affected by Trump’s sudden announcement.

By Monday night the media was becoming desperate for tales of traumatised passengers caught up in the confusion. The Independent reported on Iranian-born BBC journalist Ali Hamedani being detained for two hours and “subjected to invasive checks” before being released.

Two hours? I’ve been held up longer in Heathrow and as for the invasive checks, the US officials checked Hamedani’s phone and social media accounts.

For a couple of days there were about 110,000 Australians, including my parents, born in the banned countries who may have been affected. However, on Tuesday the Turnbull government confirmed that Australian dual citizens would be exempt from the visa restrictions. It remains to be seen whether the negative media coverage will sway public opinion.

One wonders why we didn’t hear sob stories from those affected by the Obama administration’s visa restrictions and record number of deportations. Yes, Obama, hero of the tolerant Left, deported more people than any other US president — but that wasn’t met with massive protests and media campaigns.

Trump is clearly not the type of politician to be swayed by political protests, nor will he try to appease those who loathe him.

One significant achievement for which he deserves praise is securing agreement from Saudi Arabia’s King Salman to set up safe zones in Yemen and Syria, a move that would ease the refugee crisis.

SOURCE

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Just How Much Voting Fraud Does Exist?



Early this week Donald Trump leveled the claim that three to five million illegal votes were cast during this past election, and he has called for an investigation into voter fraud. That stunning accusation — stunning only for the high numbers claimed — predictably brought howls of outrage from the Leftmedia, which lambasted Trump for yet more fake news and baseless claims. Hypocritically, the Leftmedia offered no evidence to prove that Trump's accusation was "baseless."

And it's not as if there are no facts supporting at least the need for a greater investigation into voter fraud, as several recent lawsuits brought by the Public Interest Legal Foundation demonstrate. In fact, why did the government see fit to pass the National Voting Registration Act of 1993 if it wasn't intended to combat potential voting fraud? In other words, it would be ridiculous to assert that voter fraud didn't happen. The real question is just how bad of a problem it is. If no comprehensive investigations are done, then the argument merely continues to be the spitting contest it currently has become.

It's rather dubious for the Leftmedia to call out Trump as a liar and yet argue against investigating his claims. The truth is, the Leftmedia isn't interested in knowing the actual number of illegal immigrants who voted or how many votes dead people cast or how many individuals voted multiply times. So long as official data is unavailable, leftists can continue to claim voter fraud is really not a problem — that it's simply the boogie man conservatives like to drag up as a political scare tactic designed to disenfranchise minority voters. The Leftmedia's stance essentially cheapens the unique privilege of American citizenship.

SOURCE

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For more blog postings from me, see  TONGUE-TIED, EDUCATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL, GREENIE WATCH,  POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, AUSTRALIAN POLITICS, and Paralipomena (Occasionally updated),  a Coral reef compendium and an IQ compendium. (Both updated as news items come in).  GUN WATCH is now mainly put together by Dean Weingarten. I also put up occasional updates on my Personal blog and each day I gather together my most substantial current writings on THE PSYCHOLOGIST.

Email me  here (Hotmail address). My Home Pages are here (Academic) or  here (Pictorial) or  here  (Personal)

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Psychopathy and IQ

Leftists such as the Clintons have a lot of psychopathic traits and it is clear that most psychopaths don't get into trouble with the law and can be fairly successful in business and politics.  So it is a condition that we do well to know about.

Because of some prominent examples of psychopaths who have high IQs, there has developed an impression that psychopaths are generally of above average IQ.  It is always unsafe to generalize from a few examples, however, so a paper that looks at a full range of the evidence on the subject is very welcome.  And the finding (see below) is that ON AVERAGE, psychopaths are in fact a bit dim.

There is a fuller discussion of the matter here


On the relationship between psychopathy and general intelligence: A meta-analytic review

Olga Sanchez de Ribera et al.

Abstract

Over recent decades, a growing body of research has accumulated concerning the relationship between indicators of general intelligence and the personality construct known as psychopathy. Both traits represent key correlates of life outcomes, predicting everything from occupational and economic success, to various indicators of prosocial behavior (including avoiding contact with the criminal justice system). The findings to date regarding the association of the two traits, however, have been somewhat inconsistent. Thus, there remains a need for a more systematic investigation of the extant empirical literature. The current study reports a meta-analysis conducted to evaluate the direction and overall effect size of the relationship between these two constructs. Our analyses revealed a small, but significant, negative effect of intelligence on psychopathy. The results and impact of possible moderating variables such as type of intelligence test used are discussed. Finally, the study limitations, and possible directions for further research on this issue are detailed prior to concluding.

Source

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Is Donald Trump a Fascist?

There was much vitriol surrounding the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 45th President of the United States. One thing that struck me was the frequency with which commentators threw around the words fascism and fascist. For example, The Huffington Post warned that Trump’s Emerging Fascism Threatens the Nation; Salon chastised the country with the headline Congratulations, America– you did it! An actual fascist is now your official president; The Nation predicted that Anti-Fascists Will Fight Trump’s Fascism in the Streets. There is even a website called refusefascism.org that urges Americans to “stay in the streets to stop the fascist Trump/Pence regime.”

With all the voices warning of the rise of fascism in America, it would serve us well to define fascism to ensure we understand each other and can discuss the matter with intelligence and civility. Our friend Sheldon Richman is helpful on this point with his thorough entry in The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics. Here is an excerpt:

"As an economic system, fascism is socialism with a capitalist veneer. . . . Fascism substituted the particularity of nationalism and racialism –”blood and soil”–for the internationalism of both classical liberalism and Marxism. . . .Where socialism sought totalitarian control of a society’s economic processes through direct state operation of the means of production, fascism sought that control indirectly, through domination of nominally private owners. . . . Under fascism, the state, through official cartels, controlled all aspects of manufacturing, commerce, finance, and agriculture. Planning boards set product lines, production levels, prices, wages, working conditions, and the size of firms. Licensing was ubiquitous; no economic activity could be undertaken without government permission. Levels of consumption were dictated by the state, and “excess” incomes had to be surrendered as taxes or “loans.”

Trump is undoubtedly a nationalist and protectionist and proudly declared during his inauguration address that he would put “America First.” Inasmuch as nationalism is a critical ingredient of fascism, it is indeed present. But notably absent from the Trump agenda is cartelization of American business, planning boards, or control of economic activity or consumption. Instead, Trump seeks to reduce government regulation, has imposed a hiring freeze on federal agencies, and advocates cutting taxes–the lifeblood of the state.

While there are many criticisms one can raise about Trump and certain of his policies, fascism is not one of the them. Unfortunately, fascism has become a label attached to anything a speaker does not like. Modern use of “fascism” is empty and imprecise. If you want to criticize Trump feel free to do so—but please offer reasoned arguments rather than lazily labeling the man as something that he clearly is not.

SOURCE

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That Time Clinton Got Tough on Illegal Immigration

If Trump is a reprobate, what does that make former president Bill Clinton?

Said Bill:

“All Americans, not only in the states most heavily affected, but in every place in this country are rightly disturbed by the large numbers of illegal aliens entering our country. The jobs they hold might otherwise be held by citizens or legal immigrants. The public services they use impose burdens on our taxpayers. That’s why our administration has moved aggressively to secure our borders more, by hiring a record number of new border guards, by deporting twice as many criminal aliens as ever before, by cracking down on illegal hiring, by barring welfare benefits to illegal aliens. In the budget I will present to you, we will try to do more to speed the deportation of illegal aliens who are arrested for crimes, to better identify illegal aliens in the workplace as recommended by the commission headed by former Congresswoman Barbara Jordan. We are a nation of immigrants. But we are also a nation of laws. It is wrong and ultimately self-defeating for a nation of immigrants to permit the kind of abuse of our immigration laws we have seen in recent years, and we must do more to stop it.” —Bill Clinton, 1995 State of the Union

Compare Bill’s remarks to Hillary’s immigration platform. Contrary to the Left’s narrative that accuses today’s Republicans of being hostile and unsympathetic, it’s liberals whose worldview is now unrealistic and, as Bill put it, ultimately self-defeating.

For the record, The Wall Street Journal’s Kimberley Strassel points out: “Barack Obama put a pause for six months on refugees coming from Iraq back in 2011. I don’t remember protestors and I don’t remember lawsuits.” There’s hypocrisy alright — on the Left.

SOURCE

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A changed tune from a leading Democrat



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Behind the Immigration Ban Hysterics

Trump's travel ban on foreigners is not what the Left claims it is

From references made by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to the Statue of Liberty crying to CNN running the headline, “Trump bans 134,000,000 from the U.S.,” the Left and the mainstream media are jumping up and down in hysteria over Donald Trump’s Friday executive orders on vetting refugees. Adding fuel to the controversy were stories of green card holders being prevented entry, forcing the administration to offer a clarification, with Department of Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly stating,

“In applying the provisions of the President’s executive order, I hereby deem the entry of lawful permanent residents to be in the national interest. Accordingly, absent the receipt of significant derogatory information indicating a serious threat to public safety and welfare, lawful permanent resident status will be a dispositive factor in our case-by-case determinations.”

Even The Wall Street Journal headlined a story that read, “Donald Trump’s Immigration Ban Sows Chaos.”

So what’s the deal here? Are Trump’s actions as “extreme” as the mainstream media insists? Has the White House been taken over by a nativist? Is Trump Hitler 2.0? The facts reveal quite a different story from the hysteria currently being peddled by the Leftmedia.

First, motive. Trump maintained during his entire campaign that the safety of Americans would be a top priority. The order states in part, “In order to protect Americans, the United States must ensure that those admitted to this country do not bear hostile attitudes toward it and its found principles. The United States cannot, and should not, admit those who do not support the Constitution, or those who would place violent ideologies over American law.

In addition, the United States should not admit those who engage in acts of bigotry or hatred (including "honor” killings, other forms of violence against women, or the persecution of those who practice religions different from their own) or those who would oppress Americans of any race, gender, or sexual orientation.“

His actions on Friday are yet another example of him following through on his promises. Trump has correctly assessed that Washington’s politically correct attitude toward immigration has created a climate ripe for a Trojan horse-like infiltration taking advantage of the nation’s lax controls. His order is not an attack on a religion, ethnic group or region of the world.

Trump’s concerns or actions are not new or unprecedented, as Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and, yes, even Barack Obama enacted similar temporary bans, and justified those bans out of concern for the safety of Americans. And Trump is rightly acting within the president’s legal authority.

Second, the "extreme” adjective that has been bandied about by media pundits from all sides is quite simply absurd. A quick look at history and numbers confirms this. Trump’s capping of refugees at 50,000 per year is nothing new. Both George W. Bush and Obama averaged the same number until 2016, when Obama expanded the number significantly. In reality, Trump is simply bringing the numbers back down to previously established levels. If anyone is to be faulted for extreme actions on refugees, it’s Obama.

Third, the order will seek to revamp the refugee processing in order to prioritize those of minority religious groups fleeing the persecution of radical Islamists. This will specifically help Christians but also other minorities who have suffered from rising persecution over the last few years. This is a significant change from Obama’s policy that did not favor minority religions in the refugee processing.

Fourth, the ban is temporary — 120 days — as DHS determines the “information needed from any country to adjudicate any visa, admission, or other benefit under the INA (adjudications) in order to determine that the individual seeking the benefit is who the individual claims to be and is not a security or public-safety threat.” And the ban has an exemption clause: “Secretaries of State and Homeland Security may, on a case-by-case basis, and when in the national interest, issue visas or other immigration benefits to nationals of countries for which visas and benefits are otherwise blocked.”

In reality, the Leftmedia’s exasperation over Trump’s actions is a strategy aimed at delegitimizing Trump in a effort to subvert his unapologetic “America First” policy. The Left is committed to its globalist vision and will do everything it can to derail Trump.

In hindsight, Trump may have acted too quickly, especially if he failed to fully vet the plan internally. This has allowed the Leftmedia to unleash a barrage of misinformation that is proving to sow confusion and creating the false perception of the order being extreme.

SOURCE

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For more blog postings from me, see  TONGUE-TIED, EDUCATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL, GREENIE WATCH,  POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, AUSTRALIAN POLITICS, and Paralipomena (Occasionally updated),  a Coral reef compendium and an IQ compendium. (Both updated as news items come in).  GUN WATCH is now mainly put together by Dean Weingarten. I also put up occasional updates on my Personal blog and each day I gather together my most substantial current writings on THE PSYCHOLOGIST.

Email me  here (Hotmail address). My Home Pages are here (Academic) or  here (Pictorial) or  here  (Personal)

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Some comments about the Left from a Christian psychologist who works in counselling and social services

Counselling is an area heavily populated by the Left so he sees them close-up daily

I am well aware of the amount of hatred in the world, in both the non-western world and the hatred that the left has for the western world and western society. Western society, free society, Christianised society, is the target of the world’s hatred. The overall force of hatred in the world is directed at us. Other hatreds are secondary, reactionary and minor in comparison.

The Left really does hate us. They want to see our society collapse. I hear all types of leftists say so frequently. Whether economic, social, political, spiritual or religious leftists, they all want and foresee the collapse of western society as we know it. Socio-political leftists-feminists (including psychologists, counsellors, social welfare workers, most teachers, university academics, media workers, lesbians and homos) are convinced that if they keep working at it that they will turn society into a socialist, non-white, non-capitalist, non-Christian, non-patriarchal, equalised society, where even gender will not exist.

The “spiritual-but-not-religious” leftists fantasise that a utopian society will come about when our current society collapses. That people will live in happy little villages without technology and close to nature.

Leftists are generally ignorant of how things are and how things work, and the smarter ones amongst them are determined to dumb others down, they deprive students of learning true political history, they discourage morality, teach that there is no truth, no right or wrong, no good or bad, they teach emotionalism as a religion, they encourage feeling in place of thinking, they indoctrinate children and youth with a sense of un-fairness and resentment, and with a sense of ignorant knowing better how things should be, they encourage cannabis use, homosexuality, ill-discipline and hatred in all its forms.

Just as anger always feels itself to be in the right, so does hatred always feel itself to be right, always feel good and justified. Leftists teach that feeling right is being right. They teach jealousy, resentment, anger and hatred as being feel-good emotions, as guiding personal lights. They teach jealousy, resentment and hatred as if they are good emotions to have, as if they are love and caring. They teach a sick kind of false love and caring driven by hatred, that is not love at all, just hatred dressed as love and caring.

They lead naive people astray, into a delusion of false virtue. And they teach these awful things to primary children, youths, university students, to women and mothers, to counselling clients, to people in all sorts of support groups, corrections rehabilitation programs, drug and alcohol programs, through the media, and through every avenue they can.

It all gets me down. Most of the time I soldier on in my little life, doing what I can to relieve hardship on others, to encourage in my fellow humans a love of freedom, and individual strength and virtue. I create my own little bubble of goodwill around me that, along with prayer, protects me from the oppressive radiance of disguised hatred that exists around me, for hatred by definition is the desire to harm, the desire for destruction, and lefties I mix with have lots of that.

But sometimes my protective bubble seems to burst and I feel the hatred and the false virtue of the world come upon me like finding oneself deep under the sea with no air to breathe, just water. My heart aches for something but I don’t know what for – for a home? Where could that be? Where is there a place like me? Possibly nowhere. I expect it will pass. I will walk and do my prayers and fortify myself, rebuild my protective bubble of forgiveness for others that enables me to work amongst deluded lefties who hate society and want it destroyed while believing they are society’s good people, the caring ones, and I will get back to work doing what I can, at least until another change comes along.

Now we have Trump on the scene, a man at the helm who vows to fight back against the illogicality of leftism, promising to take the fight to the forces of destruction and defeat them.

Other leaders like him are stirring in other parts of the western world. Not all of these rising anti-leftists are truth attuned, some are reacting emotionally against what they see as the illogicality of leftism, and in so doing are themselves expressing a different form of leftism just as prone to error as the leftism they oppose. So leftism fights leftism.

Emotions seldom make good decisions. I cannot see how it is possible to turn the tide of leftism without bringing things to a head. Great societal pendulums don’t swing back without great social upheavals. I doubt that Trump can do what he says he will do. Only people en masse can do that. If he tries to turn things around on his own, out of synch with the turning of sufficient masses, then he will fail.

I think success or failure will be in the timing. And either way there is sure to be conflicts and upheavals. Through history left and right have been steadily becoming more intelligent, more polarised, and more powerful. Leftist intelligence manifests as cunning.

Now, with instant communications between individuals and leaders, and rapid transport of individuals, armies, and goods, the world has become one great stage, no longer many stages as it has been through history. The opposing forces of left and right, of emotion and reason, of false and genuine goodness, that exist in potential in every individual, are now manifesting collectively and positioning themselves across the entire world stage like never before. Like a giant chess game.

I think the beginning game is past, and the mid game is building. And I think every seven billion of us, each in our own way, in our own sphere of influence, play a role in this battle.

I think it is the great battle between desire and better judgement from which all other battles stem. I think what we are seeing is the collective human organism living itself out as a result of how each individual is living themselves out.

Via email

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Reforming CFPB Isn't Enough. Eliminate It

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has a positive-sounding name. But in five and a half years since its creation, the CFPB has proven that the agency is merely an excuse for a massive expansion of federal regulatory power. The CFPB doesn’t protect consumers, as its name suggests. Rather, the American people need protection from the CFPB.

It’s time to end this failed experiment. Let’s return the CFPB’s regulatory responsibilities to the specific departments and agencies covering the relevant industries, and of course, to the states that have been responsible for basic consumer protection for a long, long time. I should know. As a former attorney general of Virginia, I took my responsibility to protect consumers seriously.

The Dodd-Frank Act created the CFPB as an unaccountable agency, with a director that could not be removed, a budget from the Federal Reserve that was self-determined, and sweeping legislative, judicial and executive powers vested in the person of the director. Indeed, this design was such an affront to the U.S. Constitution that a U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit declared the agency’s single-director structure unconstitutional. In what should be an unsurprising development, the CFPB has abused its unaccountable power.

SOURCE

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When will drug prohibitionists learn what alcohol prohibitionists found out?

January marks the 97th anniversary of the 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which in 1920 banned the manufacture, sale, and transport of “intoxicating liquors.” Backers hailed Prohibition as a cure for many of society’s problems, arguing it would reduce crime and corruption, prevent the disintegration of American families, and lower the tax burden from prisons and poorhouses.

Despite these good intentions the 18th Amendment failed. Although alcohol consumption sharply decreased at the beginning of Prohibition, it quickly rebounded. Within a few years consumption was between 60 and 70 percent of its pre-Prohibition level. The quality and potency of bootleg liquor varied greatly, resulting in deaths from poisoning and overdoses.

Barred from buying legal alcohol, many former drinkers switched to opium and cocaine. Organized crime flourished.
In light of all those failures, Prohibition was repealed in 1933 by ratification of the 21st Amendment.

The idea that banning a product can stop its sale and use should be laughable even to those untrained in economics. Alas the 18th Amendment wasn’t the government’s last foray into prohibition. For more than 40 years, the U.S. government has waged the War on Drugs.

Proponents of drug prohibition promise many benefits, like reducing crime, preventing the spread of drug-related illnesses, and dismantling criminal cartels. Just like alcohol prohibition, however, these policies have failed. For example, overdoses have skyrocketed.  According to the Centers for Disease Control, in 1980, 2.7 deaths per 100,000 people in the United States were drug-related. By 1990 that toll rose to 3.4. But in 2014, 40,055 people died of overdoses—14.7 per 100,000 people.

As alcohol prohibition showed, crime thrives in the black market. Today organized drug enterprises like Mexican cartels flourish. Joaquín Guzmán, better known as “El Chapo,” sells more drugs today than the notorious Pablo Escobar did at the height of his cocaine empire.

The problems associated with U.S. drug policy have not lessened under the Obama administration. In 2010 President Obama launched a new National Drug Control Strategy, which was to lower overdose deaths, overall use, and use by young people, among other things, by 2015.

By its own measurements, however, the administration’s strategy has been an utter disaster. Between 2013 and 2014 alone, heroin overdose deaths increased 28 percent. They are 440 percent higher today than they were under President Bush. And despite Obama’s goals, prescription-opioid deaths have also increased.

Marijuana use by high school students remains roughly constant, though it was supposed to decline by 15 percent. For 18-25-year-olds the “past-month” rate of use was projected to fall 10 percent. Instead it increased 12 percent. Other statistics tell similar stories. “Lifetime” drug use by eighth-graders, for example, is up 8 percent since 2007. Driving under the influence of drugs has also increased.

It’s unclear whether drug policy will improve under the Trump administration, but many are pessimistic. In a recent interview Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, a well-known drug-policy-reform advocate, expressed concerns over the appointment of John Kelly as secretary of homeland security, stating that “the Trump administration looks like bad news for almost every element of drug policy reform—from sentencing to marijuana … to the international aspects, to the you name it.” In another interview, Nadelmann referred to Sen. Jeff Sessions, Trump’s nominee for attorney general, as a “drug war dinosaur.” He noted Sessions’s support of Nancy Reagan’s antiquated “Just Say No” campaign despite overwhelming evidence of failure. More than 1,200 law professors published an open letter opposing his nomination, citing among other issues “regressive drug policies.”

Drug policy is the concern of all Americans. In 2010 the U.S. government spent some $50 billion on the War on Drugs—that’s $500 a second on policies that have failed.

When policies don’t deliver on their promises, policymakers have two options. They can repeal the policies and try something new or double down on their mistakes.  After 13 years, the failure of the 18th Amendment was clear for all to see. The drug war is now more than 40 years old. When will the prohibitionists learn?

SOURCE

NEWS:  Chris Brand is still in hospital and still recovering but still in good spirits, thanks in part to Shiou, his dedicated wife

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For more blog postings from me, see  TONGUE-TIED, EDUCATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL, GREENIE WATCH,  POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, AUSTRALIAN POLITICS, and Paralipomena (Occasionally updated),  a Coral reef compendium and an IQ compendium. (Both updated as news items come in).  GUN WATCH is now mainly put together by Dean Weingarten. I also put up occasional updates on my Personal blog and each day I gather together my most substantial current writings on THE PSYCHOLOGIST.

Email me  here (Hotmail address). My Home Pages are here (Academic) or  here (Pictorial) or  here  (Personal)

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Politician does what he says he was going to do. World reels.

Leftists are a thousand times more upset at people from terror-linked countries being banned than actual Islamic terror attacks. Amazing.  

Funny, but the only time Leftists pretend to support religion is when a Republican President tries to protect America from Islamic terrorism

Obama banned Muslims entering the USA in 2011 for 6 months. Not a word

The elites are horrified at Trump leaping to keep his promises about immigration.  How gauche that is, they appear to think.

But the uproar the elites have created has provided billions of dollars worth of worldwide free publicity for the new policy.  It will immediately be known to just about everybody in the target countries.  In his election campaign, DT got immense publicity by saying "extreme" things.  Now he is getting immense publicity by DOING "extreme" things.  He is a master media manager.  So whatever happens subsequently everyone will know now that getting to America is no longer a soft touch.

And the elites have long ago shot their bolt with Trump.  They have abused him so often and for so much that they are now like the boy who cried wolf. Their bucketsfull of abuse will bounce right off as they always have from Trump.  Had they been polite and measured in their comments about him they might now have been listened to.  But they were not.  So Trump has no reason to respect their claims and arguments. He has every reason to ignore them.  The only question for Trump will be what his voters think.  And you can be sure that they will be ecstatic at his quickness to keep his promise

Note that there is in fact no actual Muslim Ban. There's a temporary ban for 90 days from 7 countries. That's it.


Top Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway took to Twitter to praise the president's executive actions halting refugee admission to the United States

"Get used to it. @POTUS is a man of action and impact," Conway tweeted, along with a link to a Fox News segment in which she talked about how Trump followed through on his campaign promise to implement "extreme vetting" of refugees and migrants from certain countries.

"I don't think Washington is accustomed to somebody who's just been a brilliant businessman, who's accustomed to delivering and producing results, who's accountable to, in this case, the people," Conway said during her Fox News interview.

"Promises made, promises kept," her tweet continued. "Shock to the system. And he's just getting started."

Donald Trump signed an executive order on Friday that banned refugees from entering the US for 120 days. Syrians have been banned indefinitely, and asylum-seekers from six Muslim-majority countries -- Sudan, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Lebanon, and Yemen -- have been barred entry for at least the next three months.

Critics of Trump's refugee ban say it is discriminatory and violates the Constitution's religious freedom guarantees.

"Today's executive actions dishonor our values and do not address the threat of terrorism," said a statement released by House Democratic Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi on Friday. "Americans of all faiths must confront and reject any attempt to target for exclusion or discrimination anyone on the basis of their religion."

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer also slammed the president's executive actions. "Tears are running down the cheeks of the Statue of Liberty tonight as a grand tradition of America, welcoming immigrants, that has existed since America was founded has been stomped upon, taking in immigrants and refugees is not only humanitarian but has also boosted our economy and created jobs decade after decade," Schumer said.

He continued: "This is one of the most backward and nasty executive orders that the president has issued."

SOURCE

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Trump Immigration Ban Still In Place Despite Court Ruling, Says DHS

Hours after a federal judge issued a stay on President Donald Trump's executive order temporarily restricting entry to the U.S. from seven Muslim-majority countries, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and a senior White House adviser issued robust responses, emphasizing that the order remains in force.

In a statement issued in the early hours of Sunday, the Department said: "President Trump's Executive Orders remain in place — prohibited travel will remain prohibited, and the U.S. government retains its right to revoke visas at any time if required for national security or public safety."

The responses came just hours after federal Judge Ann Donnelly of the Eastern District of New York granted an emergency stay on parts of the order late Saturday. Her ruling came in response to a lawsuit brought by the ACLU on behalf of two Iraqi refugees who had been detained at New York's John F. Kennedy airport.

The stay will prevent the government from deporting citizens from the affected countries that had already arrived in the U.S.The ACLU estimated that around 200 people would be affected by the ruling.

For travelers outside of the U.S. however, even those with valid visas, the ruling will not change the restrictions imposed on them by the order.

SOURCE

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The hypocrisy of the Left still thriving



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A new alignment with Labor unions?

The picture of the new president sitting with some of his most ardent opponents from organized labor has got to send shivers down the spines of Democratic Party insiders.

Open Secrets reports that private sector unions contributed more than $25 million in political donations in 2016, with an overwhelming majority going to Democrats. But the real political power of labor unions within the Democratic Party is their established political network, which provides instant trained grassroots to benefit candidates they support.

Trump’s White House invitation and meeting threaten to rip asunder the out-of-power Democrat establishment’s precariously balanced coalition of environmental anti-economic-growth elitists and labor union-identifying blue-collar workers.

To date, the top-down rule of labor organizations has assured the Democratic Party the benefits of the money and muscle that these groups can provide, while increasingly losing their voters’ support.

In the first 100 hours of the Trump administration, Democratic Party hegemony through that top-down rule has been shaken, as many of the leaders who visited the White House received access they never had to Barack Obama, who was pivoting toward a loose coalition of millennials, Silicon Valley elites and identity politics-based voters, and away from the blue-collar voters who had been a mainstay of decades of electoral success.

The meeting with the labor leaders preceded Trump’s signature on a memorandum withdrawing the United States’ signature from the crown jewel of Obama’s trade policy, the Trans-Pacific Partnership — giving the union leaders a big win. Less than two hours later, Trump was signing another memorandum undoing the Democrat policy of administratively killing the job-creating Keystone XL pipeline, a high priority of many of the union leaders who were in the Oval Office.

International Brotherhood of Teamsters General President James Hoffa Jr. applauded President Trump, crowing in victory: “This is a major step toward putting more Americans to work, building the infrastructure that we need and creating economic prosperity.”

Just as Candidate Trump dismantled conventional wisdom by ripping through the Democrats’ vaunted Blue Wall of Rust Belt states, President Trump seems intent on moving forward with policies he perceives will help rebuild our nation’s manufacturing base. However, unlike those Republicans in the 1950s who declared that whatever was good for General Motors was good for America, Trump’s cry seems to be, whatever is good for the American worker who makes, builds and extracts wealth, is good for the country and the world.

SOURCE

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Anti Trump Leftists thought it would be cute to block a street. The police weren’t playing

A group of Portland, Oregon anti-Trump rioters who consider themselves “The Resistance” thought it would be fun to trap people on a bus as they blocked traffic.

Bringing downtown traffic to a halt, the protesters thought they would be greeted with cheers.  Boy, were they wrong.

Video captured by Fox 12 reporter Kelsey Watts shows the protesters surrounded by screaming commuters, who cursed at them and told them to stop blocking traffic.

And that’s when the police showed up. In riot gear.  The video shows armored police running into the mob of protesters at full speed, plowing them across the pavement like a bulldozer.  The protest was cleared in seconds. 14 liberals were arrested.

As police smashed their way into the protest the crowd in this notoriously liberal city…burst into wild cheers.  “Take them all down!,” shouted a man.  “Some of us just want to get home,” said a woman.

Between this, and Washington, D.C. charging anti-Trump leftists with felony rioting, it appears big cities are getting sick and tired of dealing with liberal lunacy.

SOURCE

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For more blog postings from me, see  TONGUE-TIED, EDUCATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL, GREENIE WATCH,  POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, AUSTRALIAN POLITICS, and Paralipomena (Occasionally updated),  a Coral reef compendium and an IQ compendium. (Both updated as news items come in).  GUN WATCH is now mainly put together by Dean Weingarten. I also put up occasional updates on my Personal blog and each day I gather together my most substantial current writings on THE PSYCHOLOGIST.

Email me  here (Hotmail address). My Home Pages are here (Academic) or  here (Pictorial) or  here  (Personal)

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